Fifa 'reconsidering' its stance on football goal-line video tech

Hawk-Eye for footie, anyone?

Shares

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has revealed that goal-line video technology may be introduced to football matches in the future, explaining that Fifa will take another look at using the technology.

Everybody but the referee saw Frank Lampard's goal at the weekend and while we can't say this was the reason England departed early from the World Cup, it was a prime example of why goal-line video technology is needed in football.

Fifa has been adamant that this isn't the case and that video technology would slow down on-pitch action, but it does seem that Fifa and, more importantly, Blatter may have changed their mind.

Speaking to press this week, Blatter said: "Naturally we deplore when you see the evidence of refereeing mistakes.

"We will take on board again the discussion about [video] technology. Something has to be changed."

No mis-truths

We never thought that we would see the day Blatter mutters the word 'change', but this is a positive sign that football may well get technology which has re-defined tennis and cricket, without changing the enjoyment of the games.

The folks behind Hawk-Eye are also adamant that their technology would be a positive thing for football, noting recently that: "Hawk-Eye has been independently tested by the English Premier League and the IFAB (International Football Association Board), and shown to work in all instances tested. These tests included having many people around the ball as it crosses the line."

They also say that Blatter's past remarks about the technology "not being accurate" was "a mis-truth".

As for slowing down the game, Hawk-Eye's creators insist that it takes just 0.5 seconds for the referee to get an answer as to whether the ball went over the line.

"Referees want goal line technology, it would be there to help them not to replace them," says Hawk-Eye's representatives.